Lucid Air Sapphire breaks Tesla Model S plaid record

Drag racing is great for seeing how quickly a car accelerates, but drag racing can also test braking and cornering. Now, Tesla and Lucid are launching their most powerful sedan ever. These are two very different cars, but each claims four-digit horsepower and the performance to back it up.

Tesla’s Model S Plaid has 1,020 horsepower (760 kW), and the example in the video comes with the optional $20,000 track package, which includes larger brakes for better stopping power. The Lucid Air Sapphire comes standard with 1,234 horsepower (920 kW) and multiple track modes, including Drag Race, Hot Lap and Enduro. The Air also has about 400 lb-ft (541 Nm) of additional torque.

More: Lucid Air Sapphire makes Dodge Demon 170 look slow

In the first race at Edmunds U-Drag, we saw the Lucid take advantage of its extra power and twist to take an early lead. In fact, it’s powerful enough to stay ahead through the quarter mile and into the first turn. Despite its massive brakes, the Tesla couldn’t pull the Lucid tight enough through the corners, while the Air Sapphire had plenty of room between the sedans to race toward the finish line.

Game 2 played out essentially the same, but with one key difference. In fact, the Tesla started chasing Lucid on the back straight, but wasn’t fast enough to catch it before the end of the race. Still, it’s an interesting result considering the Lucid’s top speed is over 200 mph (322 km/h). If you’re a die-hard Tesla fan, don’t feel too bad. This group of games set a new record for U-Drag.

In fact, the Lucid Air Sapphire was very fast in this test, a full 1.7 seconds faster than the second-place McLaren 765LT. As for Tesla, it ranked fourth overall, losing to the 765LT and McLaren 750S, with a best time of 29.8 seconds.

Photo credit: Edmonds